Five Minutes
by Edenfalls81
Summary: Just five minutes more or less and none of it would have happened.
1. Chapter 1

By Mal's way of looking at it, the whole thing was just a matter of five minutes. Five minutes more or less and none of it would have happened. He wouldn't have ended up with a crashed shuttle on a deserted planet with only half his crew and no ship.

He thought about those five minute spans of time as he lay on his back in bed staring at the ceiling. The sun had just started shining through the windows, but Mal had been awake for nearly an hour already. He'd thought about getting up, but his arm was currently being laid on and he felt bad about disturbing someone else's sleep simply because he couldn't find his own.

_**Five minutes later…**_

Simon shifted in bed and woke up slowly, feeling the warm morning sun shining against his back and warming his skin. He shifted slightly when he realized that he was lying on something.

"Sorry Mal didn't mean to lie on your arm." Simon apologized as he moved away from the Captain.

"No worries Doc, weren't hurtin me or nothing." Mal assured him as he moved his arm away from Simon's chest and stretched.

"You ready fer breakfast?" Mal asked as he sat up and began to pull on his pants.

Simon smiled and did the same. "Yeah I could eat. You cookin?" He teased.

"Hell no its yer turn!" Mal argued as he stood up, pulling Simon up along with him.

"We could make Jayne cook." Simon suggested.

"I like the way you think Doc." Mal replied with a grin and then turned and led Simon out of their bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Four months earlier…**_

"I don't like it Sir. It's a bad idea." Zoe replied honestly.

Mal sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't like it either Zoe but we gotta go where the work is and the work is there."

"Still think it's a bad idea. And I think the rest a the crew's gonna feel the same." Zoe replied.

"Yeah I know. But it's an easy job and it'll set us up with a nice bit a cash for quite awhile." Mal pointed out.

Zoe didn't reply but simply stared out at the Black as she thought over Mal's suggestion.

_**Five minutes later…**_

"Alright I'm in, but you're telling the crew where the job is." Zoe finally said breaking the silence.

"See how easy it'll be? We take the shuttle over to their ship, bring the Doc, he does his thing, and we get paid." Mal finished.

They were sitting around the galley table and after Mal finished explaining their newest job he was met by wide shocked eyes from every member of his crew.

They were all silent for a few seconds before everyone began talking at once.

"No ruttin way!" Jayne shouted.

"Mal you can't be serious." Simon whispered.

"Cap'n you can't be askin us to do this." Kaylee said, sounding close to tears.

"Trapped like mice in a maze, but we'll find the cheese eventually." River answered and was promptly ignored by everyone.

"Look I know it won't be easy, but these people are willin ta pay a boat load for Simon's doctorin for us droppin off supplies. One quick trip and we'll make enough cash to last us least half a year. We can't turn it down." Mal replied.

"But its Miranda Mal, you want us to go back ta Miranda." Jayne pointed out like he was talking to an addle brained lunatic, which he was seriously beginning to think Mal was.

"No we'll be takin a shuttle to Miranda's orbit. Serenity will stay on Haven." Mal explained.

"What about Reavers? I ain't goin near Reavers." Jayne replied his knuckles turning white as he gripped his coffee mug tightly.

"They ain't there no more. Ever since we… well since they followed us and got all shot ta hell by the Alliance they ain't stayin near Miranda." Mal assured him.

"You sure?" Jayne asked.

"Well that colony ships been makin runs ta Miranda fer six months now and they ain't seen nothin." Mal replied.

"Still don't get why we can't just meet em on Haven." Kaylee said.

"The colony won't let em back on till they get checked out by a doctor. They ain't got enough immunizations for the whole colony and they can't risk spreadin the virus. We just gotta have Simon go on board and treat their sick and innoc. everyone."

"So I guess they really need our help then huh?" Kaylee asked softly beginning to crack.

"Those people are feng-le. Goin down to Miranda all the gorram time." Jayne muttered.

"Wouldn't much care for it myself, but the whole planet is loaded down with supplies ain't no one is usin. The new Haven colony needs supplies and Miranda's close, they ain't got alotta choice." Mal said.

"And you sure there ain't no Reavers?" Jayne asked once more.

"I'm sure. Been hearin reports a them hittin settlements, but that's all the way on the other side a the Verse, they ain't been near Miranda in more than half a year." Mal confirmed once again.

"Fine, but it better be a damn big pay off." Jayne muttered and stomped out of the room.

"What about the rest a ya?" Mal asked.

Simon and Kaylee both nodded reluctantly. River just gave Mal a bright smile.

"Alright then Albatross set a course fer Miranda." Mal ordered somewhat reluctantly.


	3. Chapter 3

"Why do I gotta go?" Jayne whined as he stomped onto the shuttle.

"Cause I need a gun hand to go just in case something happens. And cause this is what I pay ya for." Mal pointed out as he finished loading the last of the small cargo containers onto the shuttle.

"But yer takin River can't she do it if ya need a gun hand?" Jayne protested.

"Sure but if I take you I got two gun hands and besides River's gonna be flyin the shuttle. Quit arguin bout it and just get strapped in, we're leavin in five." Mal ordered and stomped off the shuttle.

"Alright we should be back by tonight, tomorrow mornin at the latest." Mal informed Zoe as River and Simon walked past him onto the shuttle.

Zoe nodded. "We'll be here Sir."

Mal could see that Zoe was distracted by being on Haven, her eyes kept traveling towards the direction that Wash's grave lay in and he figured she'd be spending much of her day there. He felt bad about bringing the crew back there, but like he'd said before they didn't have much of a choice.

Mal nodded and waved to Inara and Kaylee who were sitting outside Serenity enjoying the bright sunlight.

"See ya'll later." Mal called as he boarded the shuttle.

"Bye Cap'n see ya tomorrow." Kaylee called brightly.

River lifted the shuttle off the ground smoothly and they broke atmo ten minutes later. It took three hours to reach the colony ship that was floating in the black just outside of Miranda's atmosphere.

Mal felt a knot in his throat as he stared down at the abandoned planet, he'd hoped he'd never have to lay eyes on Miranda again.

They docked with the ship quickly and before long were standing in the air lock of the colony supply ship.

"Ah Captain Reynolds, thank you so much for bringing your doctor to our aid." The Captain said with a large smile and then pulled a gun from behind his back and pointed it straight at Mal.

_**Five minutes later…**_

"Whattda ya do with the real Cap'n?" Mal asked to the smug looking weasel of a man who was currently pointing a gun at his face.

"Didn't do nothin to him. That virus killed the whole crew off two days ago. We just happened to be here when they kicked. Was plannin on just takin the ship and the supplies and then we got that Cortex message from ya. Who'd a thought that the famous Malcolm Reynolds and his crew a fugitives would just walk inta my hands." The man said with a high pitched giggle.

"So what exactly is it ya want with us?" Mal asked.

"I want her and him. Bounty on their heads is high enough ta keep me livin the good life for a long time, bounty on yer head ain't nothin ta sneeze at either Captain Reynolds. Feds'll be here any minute ta take you and give me my money." The rodent man replied gleefully.

Mal swallowed and tried to think of a way out of their predicament. He looked to River hoping she would go all killer woman on the men, but she was staring ahead of her and looked about as frightening as a kitten, a slightly crazy kitten.

Before he could come up with any kind of a plan Mal felt the familiar bump as another ship docked with the colony ship. Mal cursed under his breath as fifteen purple bellies walked past them from the airlock and into the cargo bay.

One of the purple bellies stepped forward and placed a metal hand cuff around Mal's right wrist and then chained the second cuff around Simon left wrist. Jayne and River were similarly cuffed together.

"Jones you get these four secured in the holding cell. I'll make sure the fine Captain here gets his bounty." One of the Alliance officials instructed.

Three of the guards moved forward and pointed their guns at Mal and Simon. When they didn't turn fast enough one of the soldiers smacked Mal in the back of his head with the butt of his gun. From behind him Mal heard a gun fire and figured that weasel man and his crew had gotten their bounty all right.

As they walked into the airlock all Mal could think about was that if they'd just arrived five minutes later they would have seen the Alliance vessel and if he'd just had another five minutes maybe he could have figured a way out of there before the Feds arrived.

If only they'd had five minutes more or less, things might have been different.


	4. Chapter 4

Jayne stood in the airlock chained to the moonbrain and walking towards the Alliance shuttle. His hand itched to reach for the gun that the purple bellies had failed to find strapped to his inner thigh, but didn't see any way of reaching it without getting shot.

His arm suddenly tugged out behind him and he turned to see that the moonbrain had stopped walking. Before he had time to yell at her for yanking on his wrist she burst into action.

Without looking she lashed her leg straight out behind her and caught one of the Feds straight in the throat. At the same time that she was leaning forward to kick the guard she was shoving her un-cuffed hand down Jayne's pants. Jayne let out an almost girly shriek when her hand suddenly shot down his pants, but she was pulling it out again quickly with his pistol clutched in her fist.

She spun around yanking Jayne around with her and began firing rounds off in quick succession. The purple bellies surrounding them began dropping and in seconds every guard surrounding them was on the floor dead or dying.

Jayne could hear the Feds still in the cargo bay shouting and were then running into the airlock. River raised the pistol and fired, but the clip was empty. Without speaking the four of them turned and sprinted towards the still open door to the shuttle. Once they were all in Jayne slammed the door and engaged the lock just as a group of purple bellies slammed against it.

Moving just as quickly as she had in the airlock River ran towards the bridge, pulling Jayne with her and began furiously pushing buttons to disengage them from the colony ship. Jayne could hear Mal and Simon pulling weapons out but was unable to help since he was currently chained to the pilot.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the shuttle break away from the ship.

"Too late." River suddenly whispered to herself.

"What?" Jayne asked.

"Strap in now!" She screamed without turning around.

Jayne saw Mal and Simon sit down quickly and strap in, but since he was handcuffed to River there was no way he could strap into anything. When the first blast hit the shuttle Jayne flew forward and caught a quick glimpse of the control panel before his head connected with it.

_**Five minutes later…**_

Jayne groaned and tried to open his eyes, but had to reach up and wipe blood away from the before he could squint them open. He felt like his entire body was spinning wildly and figured it had to do with the pounding pain in his head. It was only after he'd managed to open his eyes that he realized he really was spinning, or rather the shuttle was spinning.

He saw River above him her left arm stretched down towards his own cuffed right arm. Her face was bright red with the exertion of trying to hold the damaged shuttle steady with only one arm.

Pushing his protesting body off the floor Jayne sat up and held his right arm up so that River could use both arms to steer.

Glancing up and behind him Jayne could see blue sky out the window and realized with a jolt that they were in atmo.

"Brace yourself." River instructed him with a quick look down to where he was sitting against the control panel.

Jayne nodded in understanding and braced himself as much as he could. It was only a few seconds later that the shuttle crashed into the ground with a bone jarring thud that sent Jayne back into unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

"Jayne can you hear me? Open your eyes."

"Maybe he's dead."

"No he's still breathing."

Jayne grunted and squinted one eye open, the bright sunlight shining in his face made him shut it again instantly. His head was throbbing painfully and his body hurt in more places than he could count.

"Ow what happened?" He asked groggily.

"Velocity was terminated by impact with foliage." River replied brightly.

"Huh?"

"We crashed into a forest." Mal explained in non-crazy-genius speak.

"Oh well that ain't good." Jayne said after a moment.

He sucked in a breath and forced both of his eyes open. It took a moment to get his bearing and realized it was because the shuttle had tilted ninety degrees and was on its side.

"You think you can move Jayne? We need ta get outta here fore we fall." Mal asked.

"Fall? What'da ya mean fall?"

"We're still hangin in the tree." Mal explained and then Jayne noticed the slight swaying and groaning the shuttle was making.

"Alright so how the hell do we get outta here?" Jayne asked.

_**Five minutes later…**_

"Gorram it moonbrain yer standin on my head!" Jayne grunted and pushed up on River's foot.

"Well if you'd hurry up and climb faster I wouldn't be forced to stand on you." She replied from above him.

"Then tell yer pansy ass brother ta hurry up! He's the one below me!" Jayne grumbled.

"Hey don't blame me. Mal's below me. He's the one scared of heights." Simon argued.

"I ain't scared a- AAHHH DON'T SHAKE THE TREE!" Mal screamed suddenly.

"That was the ruttin wind Mal." Jayne snapped. "Just yer pi-gu down the gorram tree!"

After quite a bit more grumbling and womanly screaming from the captain the group of four was finally on the ground.

"Alright we're outta the shuttle and the tree. Now what?" Jayne asked once they were situated on the ground.

Mal gave Jayne a smile and pulled a locator beacon from his coat pocket. "Always come prepared." He replied smugly and reached to push the button.

Before he could get his finger near the button to activate the beacon River jumped forward and slapped the locator from his hand.

"Uh Albatross what do ya think yer doin? We're gonna need that if Serenity is gonna find us." Mal said.

"Alliance is still in orbit. Turn it on and they will find us before Serenity can even leave Haven." She explained.

"Oh well good job then. So anybody got any idea what we should be doin now?" Mal asked.

River walked to the middle of the clearing they were near pulling Jayne along with her. She stood still and looked up at the sky for a few seconds before pointing off to her right.

"There's a town that way. Ten miles or so."

"Well guess we'll be hikin a bit then huh?" Mal replied and started walking making Simon stumble as he was pulled along behind the captain.

"Hey you could at least warn me before you start walking." Simon grumbled as he jogged to catch up to the Captain.

Jayne began following as well tugging crazy along behind him. Without warning River suddenly grabbed his hand, holding it tightly in her own.

"Hey what're ya doin?" Jayne asked and tried to pull his hand from hers.

"Easier this way." She replied with a bright smile and continued to hold tightly to his hand.

Jayne thought about fighting more with her, but decided if holding her hand was going to make her happy he do it. It had just sunk into him that he was currently chained to a crazy girl, who didn't like him much, who may or may not be able to kill him with her brain, and who could definitely kill him with her body.

He figured keeping her happy was the smartest thing he could right about then.


	6. Chapter 6

After a long hike through the increasingly creepy ass woods Jayne finally spotted the beginnings of a road and houses in the distance. The group began to walk faster, everyone anxious to be out of the trees.

It suddenly occurred to Jayne just what it was that they were going to find in that town. They were on Miranda after all which meant lots and lots of dead bodies and suddenly the woods didn't seem quite so creepifying to Jayne.

"Mei-mei are you going to be alright going in there?" Simon asked his little sister with concern.

Generally Jayne would have made fun of the doctor when he asked them touchy feely type questions of his sister. This time however he figured the doc had a good point, Jayne could completely understand why River would have a problem being on Miranda and since he was currently attached to her he wanted to make sure she wasn't gonna have a crazy fit either.

"Just bodies now, they don't scream anymore." River replied, which Jayne figured was crazy speak for, _No I won't have a problem being here._ He wondered once again why in the hell she couldn't just say that.

Mal carefully scanned the line of houses in front of him searching for signs of danger, although he really wasn't expecting any. He'd spent the last few hours worrying over what they were going to do once they reached the town. Until the Alliance vessel moved on there was no way they could use the locator beacon and without it he knew the chances of Serenity finding them were pretty gorram slim. Miranda wasn't some small dusty moon, it was a planet, a large planet that had been fairly populated before The Pax.

There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of cities and towns that they could be in. Since the shuttle had crashed into a forest Mal didn't think there was much chance of their crash site being visible from the air.

"So I'm thinking we find a house, clear out the bodies if there are any and get us patched up. We can decide what to do from there." Mal instructed.

The other three nodded in agreement and they all began scanning the houses they passed looking for a suitable one.

"That one." River said suddenly pointing to a pretty cottage type house half a block away.

"Course the girl would choose the frilly yellow gingerbread lookin house." Jayne griped.

"Family was on vacation when The Pax hit. No bodies inside." She explained.

"Oh well then that's a good house." Jayne replied after a moment.

It was stifling and musty inside the house, but to Mal's surprise the auxiliary power was still working and he was able to turn the air conditioner on. They opened all the windows on the ground floor and within half an hour the house was comfortably cool and no longer musty.

Simon raided the medicine cabinet in the small house and managed to find enough bandages and antiseptic to patch up the various cuts and scrapes they all had from the shuttle crash. Simon also had to set Jayne's nose which had broken when his face had slammed into the control panel. Lucky for Jayne they had found an old prescription bottle of pain pills, he took three of them before letting the doc crack his crooked nose back into place.

After the doctoring was complete Jayne and River were given the task of washing the dusty blanket and sheets on the beds so that they could have a place to sleep, since night was quickly approaching. Mal and Simon left the house to rummage for supplies.

"Hey you two get out here!" Mal suddenly called from the front of the house.

River and Jayne hurried downstairs to find Mal and Simon sitting on the couch with their chained arms on the table. Mal had a sharp metal pick in his hand and was angling it towards the lock on his cuff.

River suddenly burst forward dragging Jayne behind her and slapped the pick out of Mal's hand and across the living room carpet.

"Ya know I'm gettin a mite sick of ya slappin things out of my hand." Mal told River irritably.

"Well you keep doing things that will endanger us." River pointed out evenly.

"What exactly is so damn dangerous bout me pickin the cuffs?"

"Griswold." She said simply.

"As in grenade Griswold?" Mal asked.

River nodded. "Small ones placed into the locking device, if the lock is not disengaged with the proper key it will detonate."

**_Five minutes later…_**

"Then we'll just saw through the chains." Jayne argued.

"We already talked bout that Jayne. Look at em, that's titanium we ain't gonna be able ta saw through it." Mal pointed out for probably the tenth time since River had informed them they couldn't pick the cuffs.

"So what I just gotta stay chained to the moonbrain. That ain't gonna work!" He shouted.

"Jayne nobody is happy about this, but what's the alternative? We could pick the lock and then we won't be stuck together. Of course then one of us will have to learn to do everything with only one hand since the other one will have been blown off." Simon snapped.

Jayne flopped back on the couch and pouted. "I can't stay chained ta her! I mean she's a girl how'm I supposed ta do stuff?"

"Please don't go into what stuff you're talking about." Simon muttered.

"Um Jayne?" River said suddenly.

Jayne gave her an irritated glance. "What?"

"I have to go to the bathroom." She whispered.

Jayne simply stared at her with wide horrified eyes while Simon groaned into his hands.


	7. Chapter 7

"So um guess we should probably go ta bed." Mal said after they'd eaten dinner and played a few hands of cards.

"Yeah uh so how we gonna do this?" Jayne asked uncomfortably eyeing the teenage girl who was still attached to him.

"Don't see as we have much choice but ta share beds. Less we all wanna sleep on the floor, but don't see why we should be uncomfortable. This house has got two bedrooms with big beds, you and River'll take one and me and Simon'll take the other." Mal replied.

Jayne snorted with laughter and nearly spit his beer out of his nose.

"What exactly is so funny Jayne?" Simon asked, eyeing the man who was about to share a bed with his little sister.

"I just been so worried bout sharing a bed with the moonbrain here didn't even think bout the fact that you two gotta share a bed. That's down right hi-larious." He chuckled.

River began to giggle beside him.

"Hey we're just gonna be sleepin, that's it!" Mal protested while Simon just turned bright red.

"Hey now I was always hopin you two kids would get tagther. I think it's shiny." Jayne joked making River laugh even harder.

"Ya know Jayne it'd be a down right shame to force poor little River ta stayed chained to a dead man." Mal threatened.

Jayne held up his hands, causing River's hand to pull up as well. "Hey now I was just jokin ya. Less you two decide to get tagether and then I'm happy for ya."

He jumped up from the table then and pulled River towards the stairs when it looked like Mal was reaching for his pistol.

_**Five minutes later…**_

"Alright so we's gotta have some ground rules. One you stay on yer side a the bed. Two no havin crazy times at night. Three don't be thinkin I'm gonna warm yer feet up or cuddle ya or any of that other girl stuff. Got it?" Jayne lectured as he stood looking down at River who was sitting on the edge of the bed.

River nodded and gave Jayne a small smile. "Now for my rule."

Jayne stared at her with his mouth open. "Hey you don't get no rules."

"Then neither do you its only fair. Besides I only have one rule." She countered.

Jayne sighed and sat down beside her on the bed. "Fine what is it?"

"My name is River, not moonbrain, crazy, or feng-le girl. I would appreciate it if you would please call me by my name."

"That's all?" Jayne asked.

River nodded. "That's all."

"Alright I can try'n do that. Does it really bug ya when I call ya moonbrain?" He asked.

River nodded and gave him a solemn look.

"Didn't know it bugged ya so much, sorry." Jayne replied sincerely. He still didn't like the moonbra- River much, but she'd saved his life that day with the Reavers and he figured he owed her some respect for that.

"Thank you Jayne."

"Yeah no problem." He muttered and began pulling off his boots.

River did the same next to him it only took them a few seconds to get into the rhythm of using their cuffed hands together. Without thinking about it Jayne began unbuckling his pants.

"Oh uh sorry guess we should probly just sleep in our clothes tonight huh?" He asked and began buttoning his fly once again.

"I won't be upset by seeing you in your underwear Jayne. Besides we'll be under the blankets anyway, I won't peek." She promised.

"You sure?" He asked.

"I'm sure."

Jayne sighed and gave her one more concerned look before pulling off his pants. He wanted to pull off his t-shirt as well but realized to get it off he'd have to cut it off and then he wouldn't have a shirt to wear the next day.

"Um Jayne?" River asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"May I borrow your knife for a second?" She asked politely.

Jayne immediately sat up and gave River a suspicious look. "Why do you want my knife? I ain't wearin a Blue Sun shirt you don't need ta be cuttin on this one."

"It's not for you I promise." She assured him and gave him a big doe eyed look.

"Well what's it for then?" He asked not ready to let go of his suspicion.

River blushed slightly and looked down at her hands in her lap. "I'd like to take my bra off and unless you want it dangling from the cuffs all night I'll need to cut one of the straps." She explained quietly.

"Oh um yeah you can borrow the knife." He replied his face matching the red shade of her own.

His discomfort grew even greater a few seconds later when she reached up into her t-shirt and unsnapped the bra. She then slipped the strap off of her free arm and then slid the entire thing out the sleeve of her cuffed arm.

Jayne had to swallow thickly and turn his eyes away when he saw that the bra was a lacy little black number that sent his heart racing and his mind to a place it really shouldn't be with regards to River.

He sighed with relief when she slid the knife through the strap and dropped the now useless undergarment to the floor out of sight. Unfortunately that was about the time she undid her jeans and wriggle out of them and Jayne noticed that she was wearing matching black panties.

He quickly snapped off the lamp and climbed under the covers trying hard to ignore the warmth he could feel radiating from River's little body lying next to him.

"Goodnight Jayne." She whispered into the darkness.

"Yeah um night moon- I mean River."

He closed his eyes and tried to relax into sleep, but found that his mind kept returning to the black bra and panties against River's pale white skin.

_Oh man._ He thought. _This ain't gonna be easy._


	8. Chapter 8

"So uh guess we're gonna have ta just get in bed then huh?" Mal asked uncomfortably, looking at the bed in front of him.

"Guess so." Simon replied just as uncomfortably.

"Maybe we should just check in on River and Jayne first. You know make sure they're doing alright." Simon suggested.

"Yeah good idea, gotta make sure they ain't killin each other." Mal responded eagerly, glad for any excuse to delay getting into bed with the doctor.

Mal followed Simon down the short hallway to the other bedroom. Simon inched the door open just a crack and peeked inside. To his surprise both River and Jayne were peacefully sleeping, their cuffed hands lying next to each other on top of the blanket.

Simon closed the door quietly and looked at Mal. "Well if those two can sleep in the same bed without any problems I think we can do it too."

"Yeah guess yer right. Just keep yer hands to yerself." Mal joked as they headed back towards their room.

"Hey same goes for you. Kaylee will kick the go-se out of you if she finds out you made any moves on me." Simon countered as they both pulled off their shoes and pants.

Simon clicked off the light as he slid under the covers and felt Mal's hairy leg brush against his own. Suddenly he missed Kaylee and her soft smooth legs desperately.

When Jayne woke up the next morning he'd completely forgotten about the fact that he was cuffed to River. As a result he yawned and stretched both of his arms over his head. He heard a startled yelp and suddenly had a half asleep and surprised River lying on top of him.

"Whoa s-sorry River. Kinda fergot you was stuck to me." He apologized.

River gave him an annoyed expression that quickly turned into a smile. She sat up and kneeled on the bed in front of him, yawning as she stretched her free arm over her head. Jayne suddenly became very aware of the fact that he was in his underwear when River stretched and her nipples pushed against the thin fabric of her shirt, it didn't help that she was still in her underwear.

Jayne quickly sat up and pulled a pillow onto his lap, hoping River hadn't noticed his arousal.

River didn't seem to notice Jayne's predicament and busied herself sliding her pants on and then standing up from the bed where she waited for Jayne to move.

"Jayne can we get up now? I have to go to the bathroom, sorry." River informed him looking embarrassed.

"Uh well can ya wait a minute or so?" He asked.

River furrowed her brow in confusion. "Are you having a problem getting out of bed? Maybe I should call Simon."

"No no definitely don't call yer brother. Its just well um I kinda got…" He trailed off not sure how to explain the concept of morning wood to her. For an a psychic genius the girl sure was innocent.

River continued to look at him in confusion and then suddenly understanding lit her face.

"Oh nocturnal penile tumescence, I understand." She finally responded.

"Huh?"

"You have an erection caused by REM sleep, I understand." She said simply as if him sporting wood was nothing to be embarrassed about.

"Yeah that's the problem." He admitted.

River shrugged and bounced down on the bed beside him. "I can wait until you're ready."

"Thanks, I guess."

_**Five minutes later…**_

"Alright I'm good." Jayne finally said.

River let out a huge sigh of relief and jumped up immediately. "Can we go to the bathroom now?" She asked desperately.

Jayne nodded and gave River a sheepish smile. "Yeah sorry bout that River."

River simply smiled and pulled him towards the small bathroom that was connected to the bedroom. They had discovered the night before that if they both held their arms out as far as they could, they could each use the restroom without actually having the other person in the room. Of course this did leave Jayne standing outside the bathroom door with his arm sticking into the room.

After they had both finished they sat down on the bed unsure of what to do next.

"So River you got any ideas what we should be doin? I mean ta get rescued." Jayne asked.

River stared up at him and gave him a bright sunny smile. "I like that."

"You like what?" He asked.

"When you call me River. Makes me feel like a real girl." She replied.

"Well ya are a real girl." He stated simply.

"I know but that's not how most of the crew sees me."

"How do they see ya?" Jayne asked.

River shrugged and looked down at the carpet. "Lots of different ways. Crazy, genius, killer, broken, pilot, little sister. Everyone sees me differently but no one sees the girl, except you."

Jayne cleared his throat and shifted slightly away from her. "Guess me and you are in the same boat then huh?"

River gave him a questioning look.

"Ain't no one on the crew sees me as anything but a low life merc."

"I see more than that. Much more going on up there than anyone realizes." She said and tapped Jayne's temple to emphasize what she meant.

"You readin me girlie?"

"Not right now." She answered with a giggle.

"But you were readin me?" He pushed.

River giggled again and gave him a huge grin. "You like my underwear."


	9. Chapter 9

Jayne jumped off the bed and tried to put as much space as possible between himself and the reader, thought it didn't do much good being as how they were handcuffed together.

"Yeah well I'm a guy. We like underwear, don't be readin anymore into it than that!" He ordered gruffly.

"Come on lets go see what the other two are doin." He continued and yanked River to her feet and out the door.

"Now if that ain't the sweetest thing I ever saw."

"They do look rather cute together don't they?"

Mal opened his eyes to find River and Jayne staring down at him, laughing hysterically.

It was right about then that he realized he was sort of spooning Simon.

Mal cursed under his breath and pushed away from the doctor.

"Wha- Kaylee?" Simon grumbled sleepily when the warm body at his back suddenly disappeared.

Mal poked him hard in the ribs, "Hey I ain't Kaylee!" He grumbled.

Simon's eyes popped open and he grew red when he realized that River and Jayne were watching him sleep with Mal.

"Mei-mei are you alright? Jayne didn't do anything last night did he?" Simon asked as he scrambled out of bed, desperately trying to change the subject.

River rolled her eyes while Jayne made an angry grunt beside her.

"Don't worry Simon my virtue is still intact." River assured him sweetly.

"Sides you really think I'd make a move on the crazy girl?" Jayne grumbled and then stopped and gave River an apologetic look.

"Sorry River, didn't mean that they way it sounded." He apologized sincerely.

River nodded and gave him a forgiving smile. "That's alright slip ups are allowed."

Mal and Simon exchanged a very confused look. Had they really just heard Jayne apologize? To River? For calling her crazy? It was almost beyond belief.

"Uh Jayne did ya happen ta take some crazy pills last night? Wait doc maybe you should be checkin him fer brain tumors or something." Mal suggested as he stood up.

River slapped Mal and Simon simultaneously on the back of their heads.

"Ow! Hey what was that for?" Mal grumbled.

"No mocking! Jayne is following the rule and trying very hard. No making fun!" She ordered.

"Rule? What rule?" Simon asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"She says I ain't allowed ta call her crazy no more. Gotta try and call her River." Jayne explained.

"And you agreed to this why?" Mal asked knowing Jayne wouldn't just agree to that without some sort of incentive.

"I'm not allowed to cuddle him or have crazy moments at night." River explained.

"Maybe the two a you should a made some rules up before bed too. Or do you both like the spooning?" Jayne teased and then ducked behind River when it looked like Mal and Simon were going to hurt him.

After the group had eaten breakfast they sat around the table trying to decide just what they could do to get themselves off Miranda.

"So the Feds still up there River girl?" Mal asked.

"Not anymore, but they are keeping close watch on Miranda. Any transmission sent off planet will instantly show up on their radar." River explained.

"So basically we can't call Serenity for help?" Simon asked.

"Well technically we can call them for help, but it will result in the Alliance having our exact location within two minutes and five point six eight seconds, approximately." River replied.

"Yeah so we can't call Serenity." Mal muttered.

"So what we just live on a planet full a dead people, chained together for the rest of our lives?" Jayne grumbled.

The silence that met his question didn't do anything to make him feel better.

"Well Zoe's smart when we don't get back she'll figure something went wrong and when they come lookin for the ship they'll figure out what happened and start searchin Miranda for us." Mal finally replied confidently.

River nodded in agreement. "Once they see that we are still listed as wanted on the cortex they will begin searching Miranda. Of course without a beacon to signal them it may take awhile."

"They'll see where the shuttle crashed and just follow the trail, shouldn't take too long." Simon said hopefully.

Mal, Jayne, and River had already put together what Simon had yet to figure out.

"Lost in the woods, no trail to follow." River explained.

"Ain't no way they're gonna see the shuttle from the air." Jayne agreed.

"So basically they're gonna have to search all the towns on Miranda till they find us? How many places is that?" Mal asked.

"Fourteen major cities, fifty towns with a former population of over ten thousand, and two hundred settlements with a smaller former population than that." River supplied easily.

"Oh so this ain't gonna take no time at all." Jayne muttered sarcastically.

"Alright guess we should go about getting supplies and such, might as well make ourselves comfy." Mal instructed.

They spent the entire day searching through the town for food that was still edible as well as other supplies that they figured they would need. One lucky thing about being stranded on planet whose population had all died at once, plenty of supplies for the taking.

They finished gathering supplies late in the afternoon and returned to the small house they'd claimed as their own. It was early summer on Miranda and hot as hell outside and all four of them were sweaty and dirty from the manual labor combined with the shuttle crash and hike through the woods the previous day.

Jayne fell down onto the couch in the living room pulling River down along side him. Mal and Simon similarly fell onto the other couch in the room. They sat in silence for a few minutes before River cleared her throat and looked around at the three men she was stuck with.

"I want to take a shower." She announced.

_**Five minutes later…**_

"No! Its not happening, she's not getting naked while chained to him!" Simon yelled for the twentieth time.

"Alright so do ya just suggest she stay filthy the whole time we're here?" Mal asked.

"I swear I won't look!" Jayne yelled.

Mal and Simon both gave Jayne a disbelieving look and Mal snorted with laughter.

"Hey I can control myself ya know!" He argued.

This brought another snort of laughter from Mal.

River stood up suddenly and pulled Jayne to his feet. "I'm taking a shower, then Jayne is taking one, because I'm not staying chained to a filthy man. Simon I'm no longer a child and I'm sure Jayne and I can behave like civilized adults."

Simon opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water trying to think of an argument to stop his baby sister from being naked anywhere near Jayne.

"Hey Simon look at it this way, if Jayne tries anything River can kill him with one hand tied behind her back or ya know chained to him." Mal pointed out.

"Or with her brain." Jayne added and then seemed to realize what he'd suggested.

River smiled smugly at getting her way and tugged Jayne out of the room and upstairs.

The bathroom connected to their bedroom had a bathtub with a shower in it and lucky for both of them had a dark blue shower curtain. They figured each of them could shower while the other stood outside the curtain with their chained arm sticking into the shower.

In theory Jayne had thought the arrangement was brilliant. In practice however he soon realized that he was standing right next to a naked River, in a small steamy room with only a thin piece of fabric separating them. He didn't have to see her, his imagination was vivid enough to make things mighty uncomfortable. He was already excited enough, but when River moved and suddenly his hand brushed up against wet, slippery, hot flesh he nearly lost it.

From inside the shower he heard River giggle. Suddenly she stuck her head out of the curtain and grinned at him.

"Jayne I don't have a tattoo of Vera on my back." She said wickedly.

"Hey stay the ruttin hell outta my head! Sides it's my imagination if I wanna give ya a tattoo I can!" He grumbled.

River gave him another wicked grin before disappearing back inside the curtain and Jayne was left with the task of thinking about anything other than the naked woman attached to him.

A sudden pounding on the door helped him do just that.

"Alright River that's a long enough shower!" Simon shouted in nearly a panic.

"But Jayne hasn't washed my back yet!" She shouted in return.

Jayne thought about killing River for the comment, but the strangled cry of rage and panic coming from the doctor was so funny he couldn't help but be proud of her.

After a few seconds of silence Jayne snorted with laughter, "Uh River I think maybe ya killed yer brother."

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A/N- So I've changed the rating on this one up to mature, because for some reason my muse has decided that this story wants to be smuttier than I'd originally planned. And I can't argue with my muse or else she'll kick me!


	10. Chapter 10

The stranded group found out very quickly that among the many many problems of being chained together was the clothing issue. It was impossible for them to wear anything with sleeves unless they wanted to cut up one whole side of the shirt to get it on.

After a few days of frustration they finally solved the problem. Being that it was summer the three men simply stopped wearing shirts altogether. When River suggested she do the same Simon nearly had an aneurism and had to breathe into a paper bag for a few minutes to stop his hyperventilating. Lucky for him there was a woman's clothing shop in the town.

It wasn't pleasant finding appropriate clothing while stepping over the decomposed bodies of customers and sales people, but eventually River managed to find quite a few shirts and dresses that either tied around the neck or were sleeveless.

While River now had non cut up clothes to wear Jayne suddenly found that he was chained to a woman wearing extremely skimpy tops and dresses all of the time. It was impossible not to appreciate the smooth creamy flesh that was bared to him at all times.

There wasn't much for them to do on Miranda. They only left the house if they had to get supplies of some kind, it was much easier to avoid all the bodies by simply staying inside. The first week or so was spent cleaning the dust out of the house, but after that there was really nothing to do but simply wait for either the Alliance to track them down, or hopefully Serenity.

Almost a month after the crash Jayne woke up because of the tossing and turning next to him. He opened his eyes and looked over to see that River was having a nightmare. Her head thrashed back and forth as she murmured things over and over. Her hands clawed at the bed sheets and her eyes were moving furiously beneath the closed lids.

Jayne couldn't make out much of what she was saying but some words like, needles and Pax he understood clearly and realized she must be dreaming about the Academy or Miranda.

"Hey there River girl s'just a dream. Come on and open yer eyes now." Jayne whispered and ran a hand over River's forehead and through her hair to wake her up.

Her eyes popped open suddenly and darted around the room in confusion. She finally focused on Jayne's face and seemed to remember where she was. Before he even considered what he was doing he pulled River up against him and held her trembling form close to his chest. Her tiny hands wrapped around his bicep and she dug her nails into his skin as if trying to reassure herself that he was really there.

_**Five minutes later…**_

Jayne was relieved when she finally stopped shaking and released the death grip she had on his arm. She let out a deep breath, which warmed the skin on his chest deliciously.

"How ya doin? Better?" He asked quietly.

She nodded her silky hair sliding on his chest and making him feel all kinds of excited just from that one simple action.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"What the hell do ya got ta be sorry for River?"

"Broke all the rules. Not on my side of the bed, had crazy time at night, and you're cuddling me. Sorry I broke the rules."

"Ah hell River this ain't what I meant. I might be an insensitive hun-dan most a the time, but even I know it ain't yer fault if ya have nightmares. Don't go worryin on it none. 'Sides I can't really complain bout havin a beautiful girl cuddle up against me now can I?"

River pushed herself up onto one elbow so that she could look into his face. "You think I'm beautiful?" She asked sounding awed.

Jayne blushed a little, he hadn't really meant to just put it out there like that. "Well course I do. What guy doesn't think yer beautiful?"

River's impossibly large eyes stared into his without blinking and she gently trailed one hand down his cheek enjoying the raspy feel of his goatee and stubble under her fingers.

"No one's ever told me I was beautiful before, except for Simon." She whispered.

"Well you might never a heard anyone say it, but I can promise ya every man who passes ya planet side is thinkin just that. Less he's sly and then he's thinkin it about me." He told her with a wolfish grin.

River giggled and the small noise warmed his heart. As much as he'd disliked her in the beginning Jayne had grown attached to the reader since Miranda. Not only had she risked her own life to save them all, but after seeing the beacon of the Alliance woman, Jayne fully realized just how much pain the poor girl had been forced to carry around inside of her confused mind. He didn't think anyone deserved what had been done to her, cept for maybe the people who'd done it in the first place.

"I can hear the men on the street think that I'm beautiful, but it's much nicer to hear it out loud." She informed him.

"Well I was just tellin ya the truth." He replied as if his statement were no big deal.

Suddenly without warning River darted forward and pressed her lips to his. It was a quick closed mouth kiss and was over before Jayne's surprised brain had really had time to process it.

"What'd ya do that fore?" He asked when she pulled away.

"Because I wanted to." She said simply.

"Oh." Was all he could think to reply.

"Uh goodnight River." He said uncomfortably and settled back down to sleep.

"Goodnight Jayne." She whispered back.


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey Mal?" Simon whispered into the darkness.

Mal grunted a half asleep sort of noise that Simon assumed meant for him to either continue talking or shut the hell up. Since he wasn't sure which it was he just decided to go ahead.

"You don't think anything is going on with River and Jayne do you? I mean you don't think he's taking advantage of her while they're stuck together?" Simon asked.

Mal sighed wearily and propped himself up on his elbows so that he could look at Simon.

"Why you see him do somethin inappropriate?"

Simon thought for a second before shaking his head. "No not inappropriate, they just seem… friendly."

"Simon they been chained tagether fer over a month now. I'd rather have em be friendly than tryin to kill each other." Mal pointed out.

"I know. Its just I didn't think Jayne could even tolerate River most of the time let alone be friends with her."

"Well I'd say you and me have gotten ta be friends since we been stuck tagether. S'it really so strange same might happen ta them? Plus if Jayne ever tried somethin that River didn't want to happen she could kill him a hell of a lot faster than you or I could."

Simon thought this over and laid back down looking relieved. "Good point."

"But ya might have ta be ready case she ever does want somethin ta happen." Mal said as he lay back down as well.

Simon groaned, damn he'd just started to feel better about the situation. "But River with Jayne? I mean you don't think either of them would ever really… No there's no way River would…" Simon trailed off thinking about all the times his sister had done the exact opposite of what he expected her to do.

"Oh God I'm going to end with Jayne Cobb for a brother in law!" He moaned pitifully.

Mal snorted with laughter but didn't reply.

"Jayne?" River asked.

"Wha-?" He mumbled sleepily.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

Jayne sighed and sat up so that he could look at River. "Whattda ya mean?"

"Made me feel better when I had a nightmare and don't call me crazy anymore. Why?"

Jayne grimaced and furrowed his brow, he really hated touchy feely type a crap, but being stuck to a girl seemed to come with plenty a this shit.

"Well seein as how I can't get away from ya and you can kill me pretty fuckin easy I guess I gotta be nice to ya right?" He muttered hoping that she'd leave his good intentions at a need for self preservation.

"I would never harm you for being mean to me, don't you know that?" She asked fearfully and Jayne felt like the Verse's biggest hun-dan when her lip began to quiver and tears filled her eyes.

"Hey River I didn't mean it like that. I know you wouldn't do nothin to me if ya didn't have a reason. Come on now don't cry, please?" He whispered sounding more caring than she'd ever heard before.

Giving him a small smile she wiped the tears from her eyes. "So then why are you really being so kind?"

"Well I owe ya fer one thing. Ya saved my life that day with the Reavers."

"So you are simply repaying a debt you feel you owe?" She whispered.

"Ya ain't gonna let this go are ya?" He asked.

"Just like to know where we stand." She answered.

Jayne propped his pillow up so that he could lean back. Once he was comfortable he grew quiet as he thought over what to tell her.

"I guess I kinda respect ya now. After Ariel and Miranda I kinda realized what them bastards at the Academy did to ya and how much they hurt ya. And well ya might still be a little off sometimes but fer all that happened to ya yer pretty amazing." He finally admitted.

"Pretty amazing?" She whispered happily.

Jayne sighed and finally looked straight at the young woman. "Yer absolutely amazing alright? I ain't never met anyone like you and I think yer probably the most special person in the whole gorram verse. S'that what ya wanted ta hear? That I'm crazy about ya and I know I ain't ever gonna be good enough for ya and being stuck to ya is killin me cause yer right there but I know I ain't ever gonna have ya."

Jayne drew in a deep ragged breath and wished to god that he could get out of the damn cuffs and away from the woman he'd just poured his heart out to. He waited anxiously as River stared at him with those impossibly large and beautiful eyes of hers.

River's face suddenly broke into a dazzling smile and she leaned forward to press her lips against his. This wasn't like the first time she'd kissed him earlier in the night, not hard and fast at all, but soft and lingering.

Jayne didn't stop to think about the fact that he was kissing River or the fact that he was kissing a woman on the lips at all, he was too lost in the sensations. The kiss was hesitant at first but after a few seconds River seemed to grow braver and opened her mouth to slip her tongue into his. Jayne felt his breath constrict and he began to grow hard as the very tip of River's tongue brushed against his own. Sighing contentedly into her mouth Jayne pulled River's slight form closer to him so that she was straddling his lap.

From this new position Jayne knew that River could feel his erection pushing against her and hoped that it wouldn't make her uncomfortable or scare her. It seemed that River had the exact opposite reaction because River began to kiss him harder and rubbed her hips against his. Jayne growled with arousal as River's hot center brushed up against him with only the thin fabric of their underwear to separate them.

Feeling bolder himself Jayne moved his free hand up to River's breast and rubbed his thumb against her small hard nipple. River groaned at the action and pressed herself even tighter against his body.

_**Five minutes later…**_

"Wait River girl we gotta stop." Jayne said reluctantly and pushed River's shoulders to move her away from him.

River took a deep breath and gave him a confused look.

"We just started this thing we don't gotta do everything right now. Plus we don't got any…"

"Contraceptives." River whispered finishing his thought. She nodded and climbed off of Jayne's lap. "Jayne's being very responsible." She complimented.

"Yeah well I ain't too used to it, but if we're gonna do this we're gonna do it right." He said firmly.

She gave him a loving smile and nodded in understanding. "But what about…?" River asked and gestured down to his erection.

"Don't worry bout it none. It'll go away soon enough. 'Sides just think how much better it'll be if we wait a bit."

"Delayed gratification is often pleasurable." She agreed.

"Uh yeah."

They lay quietly for awhile both of them lost in their own thoughts of what this new development between them might mean.

"You are good enough for me Jayne." River whispered.

"What?"

"You said earlier that you don't deserve me, but you're wrong. You're a very good man Jayne Cobb even if you don't believe it. I care about you very much."

Jayne was surprised at how good that simple statement made him feel. He couldn't remember the last time someone had said something as kinda as telling him they cared for him.

"I care bout you too River, a lot." He replied but then noticed that she'd already drifted back to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

River opened her eyes when the first ray of morning sunlight shone through the window and onto her face. Moving slowly so that she wouldn't wake up Jayne she shifted so she could stare at the man lying next to her. Jayne was still fast asleep, his free arm slung over his eyes to block out any sunlight that could wake him up.

She gently ran one finger down his cheek reveling in the delicious feeling of his coarse whiskers under her finger. She was immediately aroused from that one simple touch and almost as quickly frustrated from that arousal. It had been three weeks since the first night that she and Jayne had admitted their feelings for each other and had gotten slightly intimate, yet since then almost nothing had happened. They had kissed and fondled a little, but Jayne was firm in his resolve that they take their time and do things right. River had been so touched by his caring for her, but after three weeks she was beginning to become impatient for more. Jayne had made it clear that not only were they going to take their time, but that they were going to get Simon's blessing before anything serious occurred. River still hadn't figured out just how to inform her extremely over protective big brother that she was falling in love with the one man she knew he would never approve of.

Jayne suddenly groaned and moved his arm away from his eyes. Blinking in the bright morning sunlight he turned and gave River a wide sleepy smile.

"Mornin bao-bei. How'd ya sleep?"

"I slept very well." She answered and returned his grin.

"No nightmares?" He asked.

"No haven't had any in almost a month."

Jayne pulled her close to his chest and nuzzled his face into her hair. "Good. So what do ya wanna do this mornin?"

"I'd like to take a bath, do you mind sitting in the bathroom for awhile?"She asked.

"Hmmm sit in a room with a beautiful naked woman, that's gonna be difficult." He joked. "You gonna read the book?" He asked as they climbed out of bed.

"Of course, we have to see what happens next." She assured him as they entered the bathroom.

The group of stranded travelers had found the local library a few weeks before and had taken a number of books back to their temporary home. Jayne hadn't wanted to get books, he never had seen the fun in sitting still and reading, but River had promised she could find books that he would love. She'd picked up a bunch of books from some Earth-that-was author Jayne had never heard of and they'd begun making it a habit for her to take a bath and read aloud from the books.

He'd been skeptical at first when River had picked up a book called _The Shining_, seemed like a damn fruity girly title, but he'd been pleasantly surprised to find out that the book was a creepy ass story about a family stuck in a haunted hotel. Lots of gore and violence in it too, just the way he liked.

River read two chapters from the book while soaking in the hot water. Jayne spent the time alternating between listening to the story and staring at the beautiful sight of River's creamy white legs, and the occasional peek of perfect pink nipples from under the water.

Once River had finished reading she lay back and let Jayne wash her hair, something that they both loved immensely. After he was finished she picked up a razor and began to shave her legs, Jayne still couldn't believe how arousing he found it when she did that.

Without warning Jayne suddenly sneezed and without thinking about it put both hands over his face quickly to cover his mouth. River had been shaving with her cuffed hand and when Jayne suddenly pulled his hand away it caused her to yank the blade of the razor across her calf.

Jayne was startled when he heard River cry out and looked down to see the clear bath water quickly turning red from the blood pouring out of the long deep cut across River's leg. He'd seen plenty of blood in his day, but suddenly seeing his woman bleeding and knowing it was his fault sent Jayne into a panic like he'd never known before.

Without stopping to think about what he was doing Jayne quickly scooped River out of the bath and carried her out of the room, shouting loudly for Simon the entire time.

Simon and Mal stumbled out of their room both looking sleepy and confused. The confused expression on Simon's face quickly turned to one of concern when he saw his mei-mei naked and bleeding in Jayne's arms.

"What the hell? What happened?" Mal asked.

"She cut herself shaving, its real bad, gonna need stitches." Jayne explained as he carried River down stairs to the couch. Simon hurried into the kitchen to gather up the medical supplies they found at the hospital in town.

"Um Jayne?" River asked.

"S'ok babydoll, yer brother'll get ya fixed up good as new." Jayne assured her as he pressed a dish cloth over the wound.

"I know Jayne, but…" River began again.

"Just relax bao-bei you'll be fine." Jayne promised.

"I know that Jayne, it's just I'm naked. Could you please get me a blanket or a towel at least?" River asked sounding much calmer than Jayne did even though she was the one bleeding all over the couch.

"Oh yeah sorry." Jayne muttered and quickly pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and placed it over River.

"I'm so sorry babydoll this is all my fault." He said as he stroked her hair, the look of anguish on his face nearly broke her heart.

"Was just an accident my Jayne. I'll be fine, no worries." She assured him and leaned down to kiss him gently.

Simon chose that moment to walk into the living room. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared disbelievingly at his little sister kissing Jayne.

"Um Simon what are you… Whoa." Mal exclaimed as he walked through the doorway right behind Simon.

Simon shook his head like he was trying to wake up from a nightmare and forced himself into doctor mode.

River and Jayne had pulled away from each other as soon as the other two had entered the room and were now exchanging looks of guilt.

"Alright let's see about getting your leg fixed up and then we can talk about why you were kissing Jayne." Simon told River as he pulled the cloth off of the cut and began to clean it up.

_**Five minutes later…**_

"Alright you should be fine, but you need to keep your weight off your leg for at least a day or two." Simon instructed River as he finished suturing the long cut.

"Now do you want to tell me why you were kissing Jayne?" Simon asked as he wrapped her leg in a clean bandage.

"Because I'm in love with him." River answered simply.

"You're in love with him?" Simon asked.

"You're in love with me?" Jayne asked at the same time.

River sat up and looked Jayne straight in the eye. "Yes. Is it too soon to tell you that?" She asked sounding unsure of herself.

"Hell no it ain't. I love you too bao-bei." Jayne assured her and pulled her into his arms.

Simon watched the entire exchange with a look of horrified fascination. From behind him Mal began to snicker.

"What's so funny?" He asked and gave Mal an annoyed glare.

"Told ya those two were gonna hook up. Ain't ya glad I prepared you for it?" Mal asked gleefully.

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Sorry for the long time since I've updated. My computer kinda died and is in the process of getting fixed. I'm borrowing my brother's laptop right now, so I'll be much slower in updating until I get my computer back. I'll try and update my other stories as soon as I can.


	13. Chapter 13

Simon sat back on the floor and stared at his sister in shock. His eyes kept switching back and forth from his baby sister to the ape man she had just proclaimed to love. He finally cleared his throat and tried to order his thoughts into some semblance of rational sentences.

"How did you… When did… Why Jayne?" He stammered, unable to force his racing mind into coherent speech.

River smiled and shifted over so that Jayne could sit next to her on the couch. He settled in beside her and clasped her hand tenderly.

Simon's gaze finally settled on Jayne. "You don't even like River, I've heard you say so a million times."

"If ya haven't noticed Simon things is different now." Jayne replied evenly.

"Different how?" Simon asked.

"Well seein as how me and the girly are kinda stuck tagether I didn't have much choice but ta get ta know her. Guess things just started from there." Jayne explained.

"What things started from there?" Simon asked suspiciously.

River giggled and gave her brother the classic your-a-boob look she was so good at.

"Not to worry Simon, my Jayne is a gentleman. He refused to allow anything physical to occur until he has your blessing." River explained and gave Jayne a loving look.

"Really?" Simon and Mal both asked sounding shocked.

"Why is that so hard ta believe?" Jayne asked sounding offended.

"It's just hard to believe you'd be old fashioned bout sex Jayne seein as how ya are with them whores." Mal explained.

"Hey a whore's job is sexin. That's what ya pay em for. River and me got somethin real and I aim ta make sure we do this thing right." Jayne explained as if he were talking to an idiot.

"Are you sure? I mean are you both sure you're in love with each other?" Simon asked and resumed looking back and forth between the two.

River and Jayne looked into each other's eyes for a few moments before both of them broke into a wide grin.

"Definitely sure." River said certainly.

"Is there anything I can say that will change your minds about this?" Simon asked.

Both of them shook their heads without looking away from the other's gaze.

_**Five minutes later…**_

"Fine, but promise me that you'll take things slowly, very very slowly. And if you do ever decide to get well… intimate you'll come to me first so I can put River onto an appropriate birth control." Simon threatened.

The couple nodded eagerly, both of them wearing matching expressions of surprise that Simon had so easily accepted the situation.

"I need to go get a smoother from the kitchen, suddenly I have a pounding headache." Simon said as he stood up from the floor and yanked on the chain to get Mal to follow him out of the room.

He was halfway to the kitchen when he stopped and turned to look at Jayne.

"Jayne if I had the choice I'd say this when we were alone, but since that isn't looking like it will happen anytime in the near future I'll just say it now. If you hurt my little sister, I'll make you pay for it. I'll make sure you wake up one day missing both your testicles." With that closing threat Simon spun and walked into the kitchen with an astonished looking Mal trailing behind him.

"Am I crazy or did yer brother just give us permission ta be tagether? And when did yer brother turn into a really scary ass man?" Jayne asked.

"Just overprotective of his mei-mei. And yes he did seem to give us permission to pursue a relationship." River confirmed.

Jayne smiled widely and pulled River closer to him. "Well that's just about the best damn news I ever heard."


	14. Chapter 14

"Mal make them stop!" Simon shouted.

"They ain't doin nothin. Plus why do ya think I should have to do anything bout whatever it is they're doin anyways?" Mal replied.

"You're the Captain you can make them stop." Simon whined.

"Ok well what exactly is it that I'm supposed to be stoppin them from doing? Cause seems ta me they're sittin their, bein quite, and eatin breakfast." Mal said.

"They're looking at each other!" Simon exclaimed practically shouting.

"Oh well I'll call the Feds straight away ta deal with it!" Mal mocked.

River and Jayne finally broke their stare in order to smirk at Simon for a second before turning their gazes back towards each other.

"I'm just saying that I think I'm being very understanding about this whole thing, but do I really have to watch them gaze longingly at each other while I'm trying to eat breakfast?" Simon whined shrilly.

"Alright you two quit with the puppy dog looks, yer freakin the good doctor right the hell out." Mal ordered barely containing his laughter as he issued the order.

Jayne and River laughed as well but were kind enough to shift their gazes away from each other. It lasted less than a minute before the new couple was again staring adoringly into each other's eyes.

**_Five minutes later…_**

"Damn it Simon now it's buggin the shit outta me too! Alright you two, disappear for a bit. Yer drivin us crazier than River." Mal shouted and was promptly rewarded with a scathing look from the reader.

"What do ya mean disappear?" Jayne asked without shifting his stare away from River's dark brown eyes.

"Take a walk, take a hover car for a joyride, I don't care what ya do s'long as ya ain't in this house for a while!" Mal ordered.

"I don't know if that's a good idea Mal, us separating like that." Simon protested.

"We been here three months and ain't seen another livin soul. Don't think its likely today'll be any different. 'Sides if any two people in the Verse can take care a themselves its them two." Mal pointed out.

Simon considered Mal's point for a minute and then thought about having an afternoon without Jayne and River's constant flirtations.

"Alright I agree with Mal, maybe it'd be better if we all separated for awhile this afternoon." Simon agreed.

"You sure it ain't you two who wanna have some alone time tagether?" Jayne teased.

"I swear ta Buddha I'm gonna kill you Jayne!" Mal shouted.

"Come on my Jayne I think it would be prudent for us to leave the domicile quickly." River giggled as she pulled Jayne to his feet and out the kitchen door.

They'd only walked a few blocks from the house before Jayne was complaining.

"What the hell are we gonna do all day? It's hot as hell out here."

River stopped walking suddenly, forcing Jayne to stop walking as well.

"Come on." She instructed and began pulling Jayne in the opposite direction.

"Where we goin?" Jayne asked nervously as River took Mal's advice and began fiddling with the engine of a Mule that was parked on the side of the road.

"Baby doll ain't no way that thing is gonna start after all this time." Jayne pointed out, just as the Mule roared to life.

"Solar powered, it's been continuously charging for years." River explained as she steered the Mule around the few other vehicles that had stopped in the road when the Pax had taken effect.

"Alright so where we goin?" Jayne asked again.

"You'll see." Was all River would reply.

"Darlin you really are a genius how'd ya know this was here?" Jayne asked with a large smile on his face when he realized where River had taken him.

"Read the town tourism pamphlet." River replied as she stopped the Mule.

Jayne smiled widely again as he took in the beautiful scene before him. River had driven them directly to a lake a few miles from town. The sparkling blue water looked so inviting that Jayne nearly itched to take a swim.

"You think we'll be able to swim with these things on?" Jayne asked and held up both of their wrists to indicate the cuffs linking them together.

"I'm sure we'll be able to manage." River giggled as she climbed from the Mule, impatiently pulling at the cuffs so that Jayne would follow her.

"We didn't bring no swimmin suits." Jayne observed as they crossed from grass to the small slice of sand that surrounded the water.

"I know." River replied and turned around to give Jayne a wickedly sexy grin as she reached up with one hand to untie the string of her halter dress.

Jayne had to swallow convulsively a few times as the gauzy material of her dress slid enticingly down her body and puddle around her feet. To Jayne's shock and delight he saw that River was wearing nothing beneath the dress.

"Well are you going to stare all day or are we going for a swim?" River asked and pulled Jayne toward the water.

Jayne stumbled behind her, still unable to make his brain work properly.

"I believe it will be easier to swim without pants on my Jayne." River said and reached forward to undo the buckle on Jayne's pants.

Jayne willingly allowed his boots and pants to be removed and stood still, allowing River to take in the full sight of his manhood, already erect from the sight of her. After almost a minute of River's unbroken stare, Jayne began to blush under the scrutiny of her gaze.

"Uh bao-bei we gonna go swimmin?" Jayne asked.

River blinked and looked up at Jayne's face smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I've just never seen…" She trailed off and gestured toward his erection. "At least not in person, I've looked in Simon's anatomy texts and Inara loaned me a very informative video but…"

"Hey baby doll, you're babbling." Jayne interrupted.

River stopped talking and both of them broke into laughter which broke the nervous tension that had built between them. River led them into the water giving Jayne a delicious view of her bare backside as she sauntered into the lake.

Once they were both fully submerged River turned and smiled brightly at Jayne, obviously enjoying the cool water.

The couple swam for nearly an hour. They didn't speak much, but simply enjoyed each other's company and the beautiful day. It was so peaceful Jayne was nearly able to forget about the fact that they were trapped on Miranda. 

Seeing the look of fatigue on River's face after over an hour in the water Jayne led them to the bank of the lake. He stopped when they were waist deep in the water and looked back to River.

"Now I'm just lettin ya know now that this water is awful cold." Jayne said looking somewhat embarrassed.

"I think this warning would have been more prudent if you had given it to me before we were entirely submerged." River replied.

"No I just mean that I been in the cold water so ya can't, well ya know judge me or nothin." Jayne muttered turning bright red as he stammered.

"Judge you?" River asked, still oblivious to Jayne's current dilemma.

"I mean ya can't be lookin too close at my man bits, cause they ain't gonna be impressive right now." Jayne said with a sigh, he'd not only had to explain the concept of morning wood to her, but now the problem of shrinkage.

River continued to stare at him without a clue as to what his problem was.

"Look can't ya just read me and figure it out without me havin ta spell it out for ya?" Jayne grumbled.

"You would give me permission to look into your thoughts?" River asked sounding amazed.

"Sure go head I trust ya." Jayne answered simply.

River smiled widely, almost glowing with the pleasure and pride she felt from Jayne's trust in her. Her smile faltered and then grew even larger when she finally figured out just what it was that Jayne was having a problem with.

"Well how small does it get?" She asked in amazement.


End file.
